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Moving past, moving forward, moving beyond. Changes have a way of happening whether you want or need to them to or not. Big change, that’s the music I’ve been facing for a while.

I’ve been hunkered down in the studio for the last couple of months making a new series of art for a big solo exhibition in October. That also means I’ve been listening to music day and night. Listening and feeling music has always been a major part of my creative inspiration. Therefore I thought I’d share a few of my go to songs when working in the studio. I never grow tired of these songs and always want to listen to when making art. Keep in mind, this list is off the top of my head and represent only a sample of those go to songs.

It took exactly a month to get internet service in my new home. It’s tough dealing with large corporations that do not have enough competition to keep them in line in regard to service and reasonable expectations. I’m looking at you Comcast! I’m also looking at you DirectTV and AT&T!

I’ve exhausted all I can say or write about it. What remains to explain my feelings is this amazing song “The Man Don’t Give A Fuck” from an amazing band Super Furry Animals. I think it says what needed to be said so very well.

Alright, I’ll admit it. Once in a while I have to laugh at what gets past me. Star Wars references have been popping up all week. I’ve been consumed with so much else I never made the May 4th connection until this morning. I felt a little dull about it at first, then decided to do something about it. Ha! Which was to bring it all back to rock & roll.

What? Me? Giving in to a distracting impulse filled with creativity and music? Never!

“I Shot The Sherriff” by Eric Clapton was my first rock & roll record. The first record I ever owned. I was 5 or 6 years old. It happened when Mom let me pick out a record at the store. I don’t even think it was a record store. I was 5 or 6 years old. At the time I had no idea who Eric Clapton was and I certainly did not know who Bob Marley was either. This song was one that I was familiar with from the radio in Mom’s car. Clapton’s version of the Bob Marley song was a #1 hit in 1974 and still all over the radio a year or two later when I chose it to be my first rock & roll record.

This record ended up being quite a prolific choice. It is a rock legend covering the king of reggae. It’s a number one hit. Over time, this record turned out to be merely the first purchase of thousands made over the last 40 years. Even after all this time, I can say with confidence that my first was certainly not my worst.

The linked article is about how, just recently, a 299 year old violin was stolen from the owner as he carried it in it’s case. A tazer was used to commit the crime and the microprinted pieces of discharge helped like the weapon to the criminal. Nice. Let’s see if anyone adapts that technology to other weapons like guns. Doubt it. Because in that instance, the will does not equal the way.

We all know Livin’ On A Prayer, Bon Jovi’s #1 hit from 1987. Whether you liked the song or not, you heard it, it was everywhere. For the last 15-20 years, its probably been heard most often in a passive setting where the music was chosen for the listener, such as: the radio, a bar, a wedding reception or even a sporting event.

One of these passive settings, a sporting event, has created a call to action. Livin’ On A Prayer re-entered the Billboard Top 40 singles chart this week. What caused the spike in sales? A video of a fan performing to the song at a sporting event. You’ve probably seen it by now. I recall seeing the video in 2009 when it was first posted. Apparently it has only now truly become a viral video, or perhaps it is viral again.

So let’s get this straight. A song from 1987 has charted in 2013 with a big help from a viral video made in 2009. What dimension are we living in when moments like this occur and play out in an influential manner? If time itself is the fourth dimension, what is this? If we live in what we call real time, what is this? Unreal time?

I’ll typically write more about music on the Fuzz Factory blog (my internet radio program) when it is officially launched next month. In the meantime, I will occasionally share musings, memories and opinions here on my life as a music freak.

I am always listening to rock & roll, both old and new. This morning I started playing some great Godfathers tunes from the late 80’s. Eventually, I looked for videos on YouTube. I quickly ran across some live clips from their 1987-88 tour. I saw the Godfathers on that tour. It was my very first 18 & over show and my first show at the Metro, one of Chicago’s best venues. However, even more important was that it was my first concert at a small venue. That was an experience that forever changed my life. I remember it like it just happened yesterday. Since that night, I’ve seen hundreds of great concerts at small venues, where live performance is at its best.

Here is a clip from that very Godfathers tour taken I saw in Chicago that night over 25 years ago. This is from a stop in their home base of London. In it, they’re covering John Lennon’s Cold Turkey like their lives depended on it.

I am an artist that is influenced by music as much as anything else. I’ll listen to loud rock & roll as long as I can hear. I’ll attend rock concerts as long as I can walk. I listen to music as much as possible and use it as a method to focus and think. Within this obsession I inhabit a space that is mine alone. This is extremely difficult for me to do without music. Ideas flourish within my mind and become a visual work of art through the visual translation made while listening to or being influenced by music. Recently, I had an experience that resonated in a way that I’ll likely visually translate at some point in time. I’m referring to those moments when the soundtrack to life feels very real and the powerful feeling that overcomes when this happens to you.

Last week, this experience happened at a Built To Spill concert. The whole experience was spontaneous. I was invited by a friend from out of town that I had not seen in years. I made it to the concert very because I teach class until 7:30 and I needed to host my radio show, the Fuzz Factory for the next two hours. I love my radio gig and I make the quality a priority. I don’t have that many listeners, but most that listen are regulars and I especially never want to cancel on them at the last minute. All this means that I missed most of the show but made it in time for half of Broken Chairs, a great song. Unfortunately, that’s it. The end of the regular set. I saw barely anything, but I saw enough to know what everyone told me about Doug Martsch. So loose and tight at the same time. I am definitely going to see them in concert again. With two guitarists beside Martsch, their sound is more full and powerful live than on CD.

What I did experience was an encore full of unreal cover songs seemingly chosen just for me. I say chosen for me because they primarily covered songs that for reasons well known to me have been on my mind these days. They played Train In Vain by the Clash – an all-time favorite of mine. They also played How Soon Is Now? by the Smiths, a song I love so much almost in spite of the fact I never liked the Smiths much overall. This was a very memorable moment. Since it was completely unexpected I was able to enjoy it immensely while it hit me with an amazing amount of self-awareness. It was the soundtrack of my life.

If that wasn’t amazing enough. The other two songs they played in the encore were a cover of Don’t Fear The Reaper (perfect for minutes after my Fuzz Factory Halloween Special from earlier in the evening) and SludgeFeast by Dinosaur Jr., perfect for any evening.